China Takes Centre Stage for Spectre Miniatures May Releases

May’s new releases from Spectre Miniatures sees China’s PLA (People’s Liberation Army) reach our tabletops, with a strong mix of contemporary infantry, special operations troops, and cutting-edge unmanned systems.

From well-equipped frontline soldiers and PLA SOF teams to quadruped UGVs and modern support elements, these releases capture the increasingly high-tech, networked look of China’s evolving military.

This 9 man squad is organised to fight from an armoured vehicle and are equipped with the new QBZ-191 assault rifle - - it’s AR design is a stark contrast to the older bullpup rifle, which has been used by the PLA for decades.

2 members carry the QJS-161, light machine gun. This is a very modern design - comparable to the SAW in it’s implementation. Both are chambered in 5.8×42mm and have red dot sights,.

The squad also includes a PF-98, a 120mm unguided anti-tank launcher, with fire control system, night sights and airburst functionality. Another soldier is a loader with additional ammunition, which can include HEAT, Fragmentation, Tandem, Incendiary, and Thermobaric warheads.

Other members carry a QBZ-191 marksman variant rifle with magnified optics, and another is a designated Grenadier with a newly designed under barrel grenade launcher.

This weapon team is equipped with a QJY-20, chambered in either 7.62 or the 20E model in 8.6mm. This medium machine gun can considerably enhance the PLA’s ability to perform effective mobile operations, allowing them to break away from their older, more static combat manoeuvres.

This model is equipped with the Type-74 flamethrower. China is one of the onlyarmies in the world that still uses flamethrowers for combat operations. When fighting in trench and urban warfare, these weapons are extremely effective and are likely to prove their worth in future conflicts, whether that be in a contested city, mountains or jungle envirronment.

These figures respresent a PLA Special Operations Forces team, equipped in the modern style increasingly associated with China’s more capable frontline formations: fast helmets in the familiar high-cut pattern, compact plate carriers and modern communications gear.

PLA special operations units are generally more tightly integrated into wider theatre and campaign plans, with a stronger emphasis on special reconnaissance, target acquisition, raiding key points, and guiding precision firepower in support of conventional formations, rather than the broader independent mission sets often associated with Western SOF such as foreign internal defence, unconventional warfare, orlong-duration partner-force operations.

The team is armed with QBZ-191 rifles, fitted out with optics and aftermarket accessories, along with sidearms for close work. One operator carries an HJ-12 anti-tank launcher, giving the patrol a useful punch against vehicles and fortified positions. For fire support, another member is equipped with a shortened and suppressed QJY-201, while the team leader carries a QBS-09 shotgun with red dot sight for breaching and close-quarters fighting. Altogether, it is a compact but flexible detachment that reflects the PLA’s growing interest in highly mobile, technologically enabled small-unit warfare.

The final member carries a cubstantial drone control system, pointing toward one of the clearest directions in current Chinese military development. The PL places heavy emphasis on networked warfare, AI-enabled systems and manned-unmanned integration, and unmanned platforms are increasingly seen not as niche assets but as a routine part of future combat.

This two man team consists of a gunner and spotter. The gunner is equipped with the unique QLU-11 ‘grenade sniper system’.

This ‘marksman rifle’ was thought to have been developed to offset the lack of high precision long range weapons available to the PLA (although that seems to have changed). You don’t need to be too precise when you are shooting a 30mm fragmentation muntion. The weapon is also equipped with a fairly sophisticated ballistic smart scope - probably meaning that various types of projectile are available (airburt, anti-armour, etc).

These figures represent the PLA’s emerging quadruped unmanned ground vehicles - compact, rifle-armed robotic support platforms built for the kind of battlefield China increasingly expects to fight on: networked, sensor-heavy and shaped by constant human-machine cooperation. Publically shown examples have carried QBZ-191 assault rifles or reconnaissance payloads, and in PLA reporting they are presented not as curiosities, but as practical battlefield tools for infantry and special oeprations units working in difficult terrain and dense urban environments.

In use, these machines are intended to move foward of friendly troops, carrying out reconnaissance, route checking, target detection and direct fire support while keeping human soldiers a little further from the most dangerous point of contact. Chinese state and defence reporting around recent drills describe them operating in human-drone collaborative assaults, taking part in preliminary reconnassiance, supporting breakthroughs, and advancing alongside soldiers armed with the same family of weapons.

The ZBL-08, or Snow Leopard, is an 8 wheeled, amphibious Infantry Fighting Vehicle, capable of transporting 10 people, including crew.

Designed for quick reaction and fire support from it’s ZPT-99 30mm autocannon, 12.5mm coaxial HMG and dual ATGM - this vehicle is a versatile transport option for Mechanised Infantry.

All the above are available now through Spectre Miniatures website as physical miniatures or digital STL files.

Images and text courtesy of Spectre Miniatures.